Welcome your body and your breath to your meditation practice.
Please find a comfortable seat and sit with your eyes softly closed.
Tune in to the rhythm of your breath,
Allowing the sound of your breath to help draw your attention inward and quiet your mind.
With every cooling inhalation,
Anchor yourself into your foundation and into the earth.
With every warming exhalation,
Stretch your attention upward and expand to the sky.
Your connection to earth,
Into sky and that midpoint between the two which lies in the very center of your chest.
Our intention for today is compassion and will allow our breath to expand into the space of the heart.
As you press both hands into your chest,
Feel a widening in the back of your heart like two lotus petals blooming and stretching you a little bit further into the universe behind you.
As you exhale,
Allow your energy to soften as those petals close and we bring a little bit of that universal flow and our breath back into our heart.
So inhale,
We open and receive,
We accept and we invite and exhale as we draw it into our bodies.
We feel the connection that we have to our breath,
To our bodies.
We recognize that we are sharing this connection with everyone.
I'm going to do a metta practice for our meditation today.
Metta is unconditional loving kindness and it's first done to and for ourselves and then we move to another and to all beings.
You can keep your hands on your heart or you can let your arms rest down on your legs,
Continuing to feel the rise and fall of your breath,
The elongation of your spine and your awareness resting and centering in your heart.
And in earnest,
We say to ourself,
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful and at ease.
And we'll repeat that two more times.
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful and at ease.
Last time repeating to yourself,
For yourself,
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful and at ease.
And let us just sit for a moment and let that affirmation settle in and how it feels to feel safe and well,
At ease,
At peace and even happy.
And as these feelings of warm and love arise in your body and in your mind and you can connect to them in a way that allows them to grow and be shared with another.
So hold an image now of another in your heart and say to that friend or that person you know and need,
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
Last time,
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
And just allowing yourself to settle even deeper into these feelings of loving kindness.
As we connect to these phrases,
They become stronger.
They become more than just words.
You can even give these words to one that you are having difficulty with in your life.
Send them these words with honesty in your heart.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
As your heart opens continuously in this metta meditation practice,
We recognize that we are infinite in the amount of love that we can give.
And so this last round goes to the benefit of all beings.
Let us give this practice to the world.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be peaceful and at ease.
Keep repeating this as your mantra,
As your intention.
Let yourself sit in silence and yet repeat just a couple more times in silence for all beings to be happy,
For all beings to be well,
For all beings to be safe,
All beings to be peaceful and at ease.
If you can feel that the universe itself is loving you,
Holding your heart in its heart so you can continue to grow your heart with love.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be peaceful and at ease.
Sit in this space of silence together.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be well.
Your breath to expand from your belly to your heart,
Softening from your heart to your belly,
Enlivening your body.
And if you're ready to move from your meditation,
Let's reach the arms up to the sky,
Big breath in.
Hands together and straight down to the center of your heart.
And always,
As this practice is a benefit for all beings,
We allow our heart to stay growing.
Namaste.
Namaste.
